AZƏRBAYCANDA MÜƏLLĠMLƏRĠN TƏKMĠLLƏġDĠRĠLMƏSĠNĠN VƏ MƏKTƏBDƏ TƏLĠM TƏCRÜBƏSĠNĠN ÖYRƏNĠLMƏSĠ XXI ƏSRƏ DOĞRU

The major purposes of this study were to determine the nature of in service education for primary and secondary teachers in Azerbaijan and to identify major instructional practices, methodologies, and strategies used by teachers in classrooms in Azerbaijan. Three sources of data used in the study included government, agency, and NGO publications; interviews with government, school, agency, and NGO officials: and observations of classroom practice in a stratified sample of schools in and near Baku. The Azerbaijan education code requires that teachers in grades one-eleven complete a course of inservice education every five years. The two major certified providers of inservice education for teachers are the Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education Institutes. Other institutions of higher education, international agencies and organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have a minor and generally non-certified role in the process. As in most post-Soviet societies, Azerbaijan has a legacy in education from the preindependence period that is, in part, positive, especially in its very strong mathematics and science programs. However, a lecture mode of instruction typically pervades all grade levels and subject areas in the primary and secondary schools. Classroom practices in Azerbaijan were examined through observation of 200 lessons in a sample of fourteen state-funded schools. Most teachers were using a lecture or transmission mode of instruction, although more progressive strategies were observed in the European Lyceum and in Turkish schools, where results are very good. Two other institutes contribute to the inservice education of teachers in Azerbaijan. The principle focus of the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Research Institute is to conduct educational and pedagogical research on the content of each discipline at each level and to prepare teachers instructional books (guides) and ancillary materials to support instruction in those disciplines. The Scientific and Methodological Center on Educational Problems prepares educational plans and programs. According to the Minister of Education, the Institute and the Center will be merged into the Institute of Educational Problems next year. The following conclusions were drawn: The inservice education strategies used by the Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education institutes are very similar, largely characterized by a formal lecture modality, with teachers in a very passive mode. The quality of trainers in both institutes is inconsistent, with many found to be unsatisfactory and outdated. Inservice education from both institutes tends to be theoretical, rather than practical. Teachers express the need for the integration of more practice, more demonstrations of strategies with children, and more opportunities to interact with ideas and each other. The clear perception of teachers and school administrators in the regions is that the quality of inservice education and of trainers provided to them is not as high as the level in Baku. Many NGOs offer inservice education for teachers, some of it very highly regarded by participants. These include the Open Society Institute (Soros), PROFILE, and the Azerbaijan Independent Union of Teachers. This training is generally not certified by the Ministry of Education. Foreign experts are making some contributions, to educational reform in Azerbaijan- and many Azeri educators have had opportunities to travel abroad for training experiences. Based on systematic classroom observations, most teachers in Azerbaijan classrooms are employing classroom practices and strategies from the Soviet era. They are characterized at all levels and in all academic disciplines by lecture, recitation, and note-taking. Based on classroom observations and interviews, active learning and higher order thinking are being promoted by the European Lyceum anile in programs sponsored by the Open Society Institute (Soros). The following recommendations are based on the findings and conclusions of the study: fhe professional level of trainers at the Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education Institutes should be improved, especially with respect to principles of active learning and higher order thinking. Trainers in all inservice education courses should model in the training they conduct the active and interactive learning strategies advocated for teaching children in proposed reforms. The Ministry of Education should consider basing the inservice education of teachers on their individual needs, and the teachers should have a strong voice in selecting the courses of most interest and need to them. The set of instructional strategies used by teachers in Azerbaijan should be enriched by bringing foreign experts to work with Azeri teachers, inservice education trainers, and administrators and by sending key Azeri educators, including school directors and outstanding teachers who demonstrate potential for future leadership, abroad for training and experiences. The Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education institutes should consider the possibility of identifying resources in special education from other countries, such as the Fulbright and IRLX programs of the United States that could be used to prepare teachers and/or trainers in this area of great need. The Ministry of Education should consider exploring ways of decentralizing inservice education in regions outside of Baku in such a way that local needs are recognized. If outstanding local teachers are to be employed as trainers, then they themselves should be trained in Baku so that they are at the same level of proficiency as trainers there. The Ministry of Education should consider establishing a laboratory/demon strait on or professional development school at the European Lyceum for the use of the inservice education institutes. Expanding later to other pilot schools. In order to accomplish the goals of proposed educational reforms, the Ministry of Education should consider a strategy of developing a critical mass of well prepared teachers in every school, beginning from a cluster of key pilot schools. "The Ministry of Education should consider how to ensure that the quality of inservice education and of trainers in regions far from Baku is the same as in Baku, including in refugee areas. The professional level of trainers at the Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education Institutes should be improved', especially with respect to principles of active learning and higher order thinking. Trainers in all inservice education courses should model in the training they conduct the active and interactive learning strategies advocated for teaching children in proposed reforms. The Ministry of Education should consider basing the inservice education of teachers on their individual needs, and the teachers should have a strong voice in selecting the courses of most interest and need to them. The set of instructional strategies used by teachers in Azerbaijan should be enriched by bringing foreign experts to work with Azeri teachers, inservice education trainers, and administrators and by sending key Azeri educators, including school directors and outstanding teachers who demonstrate potential for future leadership, abroad for training and experiences. The Azerbaijan and Baku Inservice Education institutes should consider the possibility of identifying resources in special education from other countries, such as the Fulbright and 1R1-X programs of the United States that could be used to prepare teachers and/or trainers in this area of great need. The Ministry of Education should consider exploring ways of decentralizing inservice education in regions outside of Baku in such a way that local needs are recognized. If outstanding local teachers are to be employed as trainers, then they themselves should be trained in Baku that they are at the same level of proficiency as trainers there. The Ministry of Education should consider establishing a laboratory/demon strait on or professional development school at the European Lyceum for the use of the inservice education institutes, expanding later to other pilot schools. In order to accomplish the goals of proposed educational reforms, the Ministry of Education should consider a strategy of developing a critical mass of well prepared teachers in every school, beginning from a cluster of key pilot schools. The Ministry of Education should consider how to ensure that the quality of inservice education and of trainers in regions far from Baku is the same as in Baku, including in refugee areas. The Ministry of Education should consider that inservice education is a short-term step that can only be sustained irreversibly with the long-term development of a professional community of teachers. This professional community should provide for recognition of teachers successes and efforts to change and also for valuing the professional organizations and structures developed by teachers.